Kevin McRoberts

One in three feared their wedding day would be blighted by bad weather

Keeping costs down is the number one cause of pre-wedding stress

Median cost of a wedding in the UK is £8000

If you’re planning on tying the knot any time soon, this story will do nothing to ease your pre-wedding nerves.

Chances are, like many of the folk who took part in this survey by Ocean Finance, there will be one or two things making you a bit jittery about your big day.

However, by the time you finish reading this, you’re likely to realise there’s so much more that could go wrong than you’d first feared.

From being jilted at the altar and the day being spoiled by bad weather, to guests falling out, families feuding and major wardrobe failures, there’s a lot of potential pitfalls to spoil what should be one of the happiest days of your life.

According to the research, the biggest wedding day worry for one in 10 married Brits was being stood up at the altar.

Men were marginally more likely to fear this than women, and 18 to 24 year-olds (22 per cent) were more than twice as likely to worry about their partner changing their mind.

The biggest wedding day fear, though, was bad weather. For 36 per cent of Brits who have tied the knot in the last five years, this was there number one concern, with men getting much more worked up about it than women.

And going by the weather in this country, it’s probably an understandable concern – and chances are, from more than a few of them, their fears would have turned into reality!

Other wedding day fears included something going wrong with the wedding dress or suit (13 per cent), guests falling out (nine per cent), getting cold feet and changing their own mind (nine per cent); crying, fainting or tripping over during the ceremony (seven per cent); and something going wrong with the catering (seven per cent).

See, bet you didn’t realise your wedding could turn into such a disaster ...

But that’s not all – even before the big day arrives, there’s all that pre-wedding stress.

With venues, décor, catering, accommodation, transport and attire to fork out for, it’s perhaps no surprise keeping costs down came out top of the wedding planning stress list.

Most likely to get flustered about finance were 25 to 34 year-olds, while one in four 18 to 24 year-olds were stressed over securing the perfect venue.

Other stresses included drawing up the guest list (15 per cent), blending families (seven per cent), accommodation for guests (seven per cent), choosing bridesmaids/best men (five per cent), getting people to RSVP on time (five per cent), the seating plan (two per cent) and picking a theme (one per cent).

Still reading?

Well, here’s the bit about the cost.

Excluding extreme variables, the median amount couples in the UK spend on their wedding is £8000.

One in 10 Brits who tied the knot in the past five years forkid out between £19,000 and £30,000. On the other hand, almost one quarter (23%) of financially savvy newlyweds said they managed to thrift their way to a wedding that cost £2000 or less.

When financing their big day, more than half (52 per cent) of those who have tied the knot since 2011 said they paid for the event with money they had saved up.

Just over a third (34 per cent) said they received financial help from parents or other family members, seven per cent used credit cards and six per cent took out a loan.

Ian Williams, Ocean Finance spokesman, said: “The wedding industry is an expensive business. While you undoubtedly want to make it a memorable day, remember to only spend or borrow what you can afford.

“It’s all well and good having the perfect day, but if you’re left in a financial slump as a result of this, it may not be worth it in the long-term.”

So there you have it. You’re likely to end up paying out big style, you’ll be stressed from all the planning, and then there’s so much that could go wrong on the wedding day itself.